Due to their nanometer sizes and molecular recognition capabilities, biological systems have garnered much attention as vehicles for the directed assembly of nanoscale materials. One of the largest challenges of this research has been to successfully interface biological systems with nanoscale materials, such as carbon nanotubes. To this end methods utilizing short DNA oligomers that can disperse single-wall carbon nanotubes in water have been developed. However, the need for specific repeating base sequences limits use of this method. Therefore, there is a need for DNA based methods to disperse single-wall carbon nanotubes without the limitations of specific repeating base sequences.